Daughter of The Darkness

Chapter 27

The group all had a rough and sleepless night. All of them were still nervous about being hunted by orcs.

Bilbo had volunteered himself to be look out. It was the early hours of the morning and he had taken a short walk to the top of the nearest peak. As he gazed across the valley, he spotted the warg pack. They were quite far away but the could catch them up quickly on running wargs.

That was when Bilbo spotted something else. It was huge, like a bear and watching the wargs. It snarled as it watched the orcs running around the cliiff side like rats. The huge creature lifted its giant head and sniffed the air, something had caught its scent. Turning around, he looked in the direction of Bilbo who ducked and hid behind the rock he was stood near. As soon as the beast turned away Bilbo took a run for it, dashing back to the company.

When Bilbo got back, everyone was up and restless. They all looked at him as he ran up to them puffing and panting. Bilbo paused, trying to catch his breath but the dwarves gathered round him to get the news. Elfreda walked up to him and put herhand on his shoulder,

"It's alright, catch your breath first before you speak," she whispered. Bilbo nodded but said he was fine. He straightened himself up and flattened his clothes.
"They are less than three leagues away, but they'll catch up quick,"

Everyone started to talk tactics about keeping eyes out. But there was something else, Elfreda noticed, Bilbo had not finished.
"Wait! Bilbo has not finished" she complained. They stopped discussing plans and looked at the hobbit.
"There's something else out there," he said. The rest of the group stared wide eyed at him in horror. What else could be out there?
"What form did it take? Like a bear?" asked Gandalf. Bilbo nodded rather confused that the wizard knew what it was.

Elfreda knew what the creature was too. She walked over to Gandalf was the dwarves asked Bilbo more questions.
"It's not that far, we can get them there!" she said, keeping her voice low. Gandalf nodded
"The bear will catch us," he admitted. Elfreda chuckled, shaking her head
"No Gandalf, you forget I am with you. I can create a diversion." Gandalf agreed, knowing that he could not change her mind. Both of them turned to the company.
"There's a house, not far from here where we might take refuge." stated Gandalf. The talk of refuge attracted the attention of the company.
"Friend or foe?" questioned Thorin. Elfreda let out a short laugh.
"Neither," replied Elfreda. Gandalf then continued
"He will help us or he will kill us,"
Some of the dwarves looked at each other with worry in their eyes but Thorin said
"What choice do we have?"
Just as he said this, a huge roar echoed around them. It was close.
"None," said Gandalf.

Everyone started to panic.
"Looks like its time for me to go!" concluded Elfreda. They all looked at her and Elfreda explained what the plan was. All of the company looked concerned but she didn't take any notice.

She turned to leave but someone grabbed her arm. Looking around she saw it was Fili.
"Good luck, be safe" he said. She nodded and bowed her head in respect, smiling as she turned away.

Then she was gone, running off to distract the bear. Elfreda ran, following the huge paw tracks left in the soft mud; it was not that hard to track. Then she saw it, a huge black brown bear sniffing the scent of the dwarves. She knew she had to create a distraction but there was nothing around to throw at it.

In the haze of the moment Elfreda started to jump around and began to shout. She yelled at the bear who had turned to look at her. At first, the bear was pretty confused about what was going on. However he decided to charge at her anyway. He was a few hundred meters away when Elfreda herself started to run.

"Come on quickly now!" ushered Gandalf as he lead them through a branch of woodland. All of them could hear the roars and this gave them the incentive to keep going. All of them took their turn at the front, pushing the others back if they got tired. They all knew they were being hunted by two parties now. The orcs they could fight but the dwarves were unsure about the huge bear that could wipe half of them out with a swipe of his paw.

Over logs and under branches Elfreda ran. She was going in zigzags to slow the bear down but it did not help her keep her distance. She had fallen over twice now, barely scraping out of the clutches of the beast. Now she had no choice to run straight for the house knowing the bear would not be too pleased for intruding guests...

By now the dwarves had reached the tree line of the forest. They could see the safe house.
"Come on, no time to be jogging!" came a voice from behind them. A muddy Elfreda sprinted up behind them.

A huge roar, erupted from behind them as the giant bear leapt out of the trees and pounded towards them. Elfreda turned, now running backwards with some great skill, and waved her arms in the air.
"Hey! Hey!" she shouted trying to get the attention of the bear. But it was too close and it swept her aside without noticing. None of the company noticed either, they had already reached the outer walls of the house. Elfreda flew through the air and landed with a heart thud, unconscious on the floor.

The dwarves could not open the door. They slammed and heaved but it would not come loose. Thorin opened it by pulling the leaver and everyone flooded in like water into a dam. Everyone pushed the door shut but the giant bear poked his head through and tried to snap at them. However, the force of the dwarves pushed the door shut and they looked it secure.

Ori turned around to look at Gandalf "what was that?" he asked. Gandalf took no time to reply
"That is our host! His name is Beorn, he's a skin-changer. Sometimes he's a huge black bear, sometimes he's a great strong man. The bear is unpredictable, but the man can be reasoned with." Everyone stared at Gandalf but he instructed them to settle down for the night as they were safe here.

That night, everyone slept better than they had done in days. It was peaceful there. Cows gently mooed and horses whinnied.

Gandalf stayed up to welcome Beorn home. That was when he noticed the familiar blanket appaloosa horse standing in his stable.
"Kasper?" Gandalf asked walking over to the horse who immediately recognised the grey wizard. He nickered softly and allowed Gandalf to pat him on the snout. Gandalf was pleased to see the horse safe and unscathed unlike his friend who was still out there alone in the night.

Bilbo woke sleepily as he heard the door creek open. A giant man with fuzzy hair walked in carrying a limp body in his muscular arms. He laid the body on the ground and put a wet cloth on her forehead.
"Is she alright Beorn?" asked Gandalf who had walked up behind the man called Beorn. The giant man nodded slowly
"Yes, she hit her head when she landed but she will be fine in the morning"

This was all Bilbo heard before falling fast asleep again.